1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector with improved lock mechanism for a shutter member that serves to protect contact pins.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems employing card-type memory devices and using them as external memory devices of electronic apparatuses have become widely spread in recent years. In order to connect such card-type memory devices to electronic apparatuses, connectors adapted thereto are required.
A large number of types and systems of connectors for card-type memory devices (referred to hereinbelow as card connectors) have been developed and introduced (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024, FIG. 1, page 3, right column).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024 has a configuration in which the side surface of the inserted card is suppressed and held by a suppression mechanism. However, with such connector, there is a risk of the inserted card being thrown out from the card holder under the effect of external impacts. For this reason, a shutter was provided for closing a card insertion port through which the card is inserted, and the card was prevented from being thrown out by closing the shutter. Therefore, with the connector of this type, a shutter has to be provided separately from the connector. As a result, miniaturization is difficult, the number of component increases, and production cost rises significantly.
A connector in which the shutter was omitted to overcome the above-described drawbacks is also known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296, FIG. 2, Par. No. 0015 to 0021).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296 has a configuration comprising a housing that forms an insertion section for inserting a card, contact terminals (contact pins) formed inside the housing in a condition of extending in the insertion direction so as to come into contact with the terminals (contacts) of the card, and a lock mechanism for engaging with concave sections located on the side surfaces of the card and locking the card in a predetermined mounting position when the card is inserted into the insertion section and comes close to the mounting position.
With such connector structure, the card inserted into the mounting position of the housing can be prevented from falling out or being pulled out and the card can be locked on reaching the mounting position of the housing. Therefore, no load is applied to the car in the card insertion process, the insertion operation can be performed smoothly, the card can be prevented from being damaged by the lock mechanism, and it is not necessary to provide a special shutter mechanism.
Furthermore, when a card is removed from the card connector, the end section of the card is usually picked by fingers and pulled out, but when the contact is strong, the card cannot be easily pulled out. Moreover, the card is difficult to pull out because the card insertion port is narrow. Accordingly, a connector has been suggested that is provided integrally with an eject mechanism that facilitates the discharge of a card (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-26084, FIG. 1, Par. No. 0019 to 0020, 30).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-26084 has a configuration comprising an eject mechanism having a cam member in one side section of a housing and comprising an elastic engagement member that engages with a linear side edge of a card discharged by the cam member in the other side section of the housing and regulates the movement of the card in the discharge direction. With such configuration, when the accommodated card is discharged by the eject mechanism having the cam member, the card can be prevented from falling down and the card can be easily removed by hand.
However, although some of the cards of various types, for example, compact flash (registered trade name) memory cards, smart media cards, memory sticks, and PC cards are regulated by standards, a standard that has unified all the cards has not yet been established. For this reason, the cards of various types differ in dimensions and shapes and accordingly the card connectors have structures suitable for respective cards.
As a result, a user of an electronic apparatus sometimes erroneously inserts a small card into a large card insertion port. If an incompatible card is inserted erroneously into an insertion port, the contact pins of the connector can be deformed or broken. Furthermore, even if the card is of the same size as the insertion port, the card is sometimes inserted upside down or back to front. Such reverse insertion also can cause a similar damage. Furthermore, dust or dirt easily adheres to the contact pins of the connector, thereby causing poor contact.
Furthermore, in the connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024, the inserted card cannot be held reliably, a shutter has to be provided in the card insertion port to prevent the card from being thrown out, and the shutter has to be provided separately from the connector. The connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296 has no shutter, comprises a lock mechanism and prevents the card inserted into the mounting position of the housing from falling out or being pulled out, but it does not resolve all the aforementioned problems encountered when the card connector is disposed in photo printing automatic vending machines or the like. Furthermore, those problems are not resolved with the connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-26084.
In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, the applicant suggested an invention the objects of which were to provide a card connector comprising a mechanism capable of preventing the contact pins from being bent or damaged even when a card of different size is inserted by mistake and to provide a card connector equipped with an eject mechanism for easily discharging the inserted card (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-116240).
The card connector according to the invention conceived by the applicant and described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-116240 has a structure comprising a connector body accommodating a plurality of contact pins, a shutter member that is movably mounted on the connector body, covers the distal end sections of the contact pins and protects them from the outside, and a pair of side frames having lock mechanisms that lock the movement of the shutter member before the card is inserted, release the lock in response to the insertion of the compatible card, and allow the connection of the card contacts with the distal end sections of the contact pins of the connector body.
Furthermore, the pair of side frames are detachably mounted on both side walls of the connector body, and the lock mechanism is provided on each of the pair of side frames. The lock mechanism is a lock spring member such that the insertion of a card causes the release of the shutter member, and the removal of the card restores the state of engagement with the shutter member.
Therefore, this card connector that has been heretofore suggested by the applicant has a configuration in which a pair of side frames are detachably mounted on both side walls of the connector body, and lock mechanism are provided on the pair of side frames.
Due to the presence of side frames provided detachably in the transverse direction, this configuration is inconvenient from the standpoint of card connector miniaturization. Furthermore, in this structure, the lock mechanisms are provided on the side frames.
Therefore, this invention that has heretofore been suggested by the applicant, was also insufficient from the standpoint of card connector miniaturization and had to involve a complex structure.